The present invention relates to a flower sorter, more specifically to an apparatus as set forth in the preamble of the main claim.
Such an apparatus is known, for instance from applicant""s European patent application 01204055.6, disclosing a sorting apparatus which, having an improved fork transfer, is capable of taking over in particular several large flowers, such as roses, from, for instance, a fixedly arranged hang-in fork, and carries these flowers along the path of an endless conveyor chain along at least a single detection station and, after selection, delivers them at the proper position along the path, for instance to be bunched with other selected roses. The hang-in fork makes it possible for roses to be hung-in manually as well as to be hung in readiness. Although this results in a higher handling speed, this speed is limited by this very speed of manual hanging-in.
To provide a solution to that end, the apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that the apparatus further comprises at least a single hang-in buffer conveyor with an endless buffer transport element having buffer forks attached thereto, from which the flowers hanging therein are taken over by the forks mentioned, while the passing speed of the forks, Nv, and that of the buffer forks, Nb, meet Nv greater than Nb.
What is thus achieved with great advantage is not only that manual hanging-in, and hence a careful handling of such delicate products, can be maintained, but especially that in this way a high degree of filling can be obtained by choosing, in accordance with the speed differences between the conveyor and the buffer conveyor, the correct number of these buffer conveyors.
A further elaboration of the apparatus according to the invention is characterized in that the conveyor chain and the buffer transport element are driven, while mutually coupled, with a control element, and more in particular that the buffer transport element comprises a buffer chain, and that the control element comprises a gear transmission coupling. In a suitable manner, thus, a direct coupling between on the one hand the traveling speeds and on the other hand the hang-in capacity and degree of filling has been accomplished.